Subtle Nuances
by viva los angeles
Summary: Certain events could cause Phil and Keely to reveal their feelings for each other... if they get a chance. Might end up being really long. Updated frequently. Pheely Phluff! Rated just to be safe. COMPLETED, sequel ID 2514114.
1. In the Beginning

_Old A/N: I am going to try to create a believable Pheely story, in that real episodes don't show anything obvious like asking out or real kissing between Phil and Keely, and I don't think they will until the end of the show's run (a lá Lizzie McGuire). They just show implied liking, and them thinking about their feelings for each other, never really acting on them so far. So I will try to do that too - you know, like at the end of "The Giggle" we all wanted them to look up Keely's future hubby - those kinds of moments that leave you really wanting to beat up a show writer? I am going to try to leave you with one of those. Don't get me wrong, I am a Pheely Phluff Phan as much as the next guy (or girl), but if you were watching the middle of season 2, knowing the show was only through half of its projected run (unless it pulls a That's So Raven and gets extended which we all want), and suddenly they gave each other a huge smackaroo? I, for one, would be kind of sad that the grand love-scheme of things petered out so soon. I love the suspense. In any case, if you don't agree with me, don't flame. I will write some ultimate Phluff after or during the writing of this one, I promise. For now, read and review, no flames, and be nice as this is my first ever fanfic, OK? Wow, that was awfully long!_

_P.S. - the storyline is very unlikely and unrealistic, I'm just trying to follow the writers' style of No Major Real Phluff Interaction._

**Revised A/N: I lied above. That's what I planned to do but it didn't turn out that way. So here's your Phluff. And the storyline is unrealistic but that doesn't make it less fun to write!**

**Disclaimer: I am not the extremely lucky person making money off of POTF or its characters. I'm just a POTF addictee!**

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_Subtle Nuances_

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Phil slammed his locker, and was surprised to find that Keely stood on the other side of where the door had just been. "Hey Keel, care for some breakfast?" Opening it again and being very careful to not whack his friend's face, he pulled out that great slidey-shelf he had recently installed, placing two white-and-blue plates on it.

"Is that your mom's... good china?" Keely asked, a hint of anxiety in her voice. She walked around the door, pushed it against the wall of lockers, and stepped up to the shelf. "Because I'd rather just use Styrofoam - china makes me very nervous. Three years ago, at my aunt's house, we were using her good china and I dropped a plate. I felt really bad, and I was grounded for a month."

Phil chuckled, spraying a bagel onto each of their plates. "Please. In the future, china gets really cheap. People use it like... washable Styrofoam, and we have sixteen sets of it. We used to have twenty-one, but Pim smashed them. Cream cheese?" he questioned, offering another spray can to his best friend.

"Ugh, no thanks! That stuff just ruins the perfection that is a bagel." Ever the breakfast-food purist, Keely pushed the spray can away and pulled a small, restaurant-freebie tub of butter from her pocket. It had denim fuzz on the lid, and was very mushy when she opened it. "Knife?" she implored, holding her hand out like a surgeon awaiting a scalpel, and Phil reached into the back of his locker.

"Soccer cleats, spray donut, algebra book, ah, knife!" He brought his hand triumphantly out of his locker, brandishing the small white plastic stick like a sword. Keely took it from his hand, dumped the buttermush onto her bagel, and spread it around. She lifted the ring of yellow-tan bread up to her mouth to take a bite, and a bright yellow splotch landed on her shirt. "Scraps," she muttered as she set it back down on the not-so-good china. "Napkin?" she beseeched, a panicked look on her face.

"Better!" Phil exclaimed as he reached into his backpack, and then rolled his eyes at people when they looked around for the source of the happy shout. "People are so nosy in this century. Calculator, uh, mini-umbrella, Wiz'rd, oh! My favorite future gadget - the Stain-Getter-Outer." From the depths of his backpack's front pocket he produced something that looked like an aerosol hairspray bottle. "It was only in alpha testing when we left, but I'm sure it won't have any adverse effects. I hope the next thing they fix about it is its name!" He aimed the spray-thingy at Keely's shirt and pushed the trigger, first making sure that no one was around to see it.

Keely gasped. Instead of spraying out, as aerosol bottles are known to do, apparently this one sucked things in when the top was pressed. The yellow lifted from her shirt and gravitated towards the nozzle, disappearing into the can. She was absolutely astonished, as proven by the surprised look still on her face. Phil noticed this, and held up the can again. "Should I use this on your face too?" he joked.

Keely's mouth just hung open. "If it's only in alpha, how did you get a hold of it?"

Phil chortled and put it back in his pack. "Dad was one of the engineers assigned to build it," he boasted as he put both of the plates back in his locker after throwing the remnants of Keely's bagel in the trash. "Mom begged him to bring her home a tester, and he did. It's a staple of the Diffy household now." He reached around to shut his locker.

Keely just grinned. "This is my absolute favorite shirt ever," she marveled in amazement. "Philip Diffy, you are a... a shirt-saver!" The blonde breezed past him with her books in her arms and gave him a light kiss on the cheek, her red lipgloss leaving a lip-print there.

As he lifted his hand to his cheek to rub it off, he murmured, "How random and… unexpected!" But though if anyone heard him he would sound irritated, a slight grin played on his face as he walked to homeroom.

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**A/N again: not long, I know. Prepare for the next few chapters to come really fast – I have some written already.**

**-hands out massive pillows with "Pheely Phluff Phan!" scrawled on them in barely legible permanent marker-**

**And a box of these for your family if you review! Offer not valid where prohibited.**


	2. Homeroom Sweet Homeroom

**A/N: I decided to squeeze in another chapter between the two I wrote the other day. So this is the new chapter two, or, its "in-production" title, chapter 1.5. Enjoy! I don't know whose homerooms they're in or even if Keely's in Tia's or Phil's in Seth's, so just ignore that. In addition, I don't know Seth or Tia very well, so pardon me if they're out of character! The double dashes separate the same occurrences in different homerooms and the rulers separate different characters' experiences of them (see A/N at end). -- Alright, I give up. The rulers show in document preview but not in the actual story. So, just pretend they're there. The four aren't in the same homeroom. I will eventually fix this (if someone helps me!)  
**

**Disclaimer¡LAS PERSONAS NO SON MÍAS!**

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Keely dropped her books down onto a desk next to Tia, after spending about five seconds in the hall applying her lipgloss again, as the last of it that was left was currently on Phil's face. The brunette looked her friend up and down before leaning in as Keely sat in the chair attached to the desk.

"I saw that!" Tia informed her friend in a hushed whisper.

--

Phil walked into the room, a red mark on his cheek from trying to rub the lipgloss off. All he had accomplished, if anything, was smearing the red glittery stuff around on his face. He had had to duck into the restroom to get some soap and wash it off, making him slightly late to homeroom. However, his teacher didn't seem to care, and he slid gratefully into a seat next to Seth. The algebra nerd immediately cuffed his arm a little too hard, and Phil uttered a barely audible "ow!" 

"Sorry," Seth apologized. "I need to work on my friendly punches."

"No kidding," Phil murmured through clenched teeth. "That hurt."

The curly-haired kid just grinned and lightly prodded Phil again. "In any case, I saw that!"

* * *

Playing dumb, the blonde shrugged and crinkled her forehead. "Saw what?" 

With an irritated sigh, Tia grinned and shook her friend's shoulder. "Saw you kiss him!"

--

Phil's shoulders slumped forward as he closed his eyes, resting his head on his desk. "Saw what, Seth?" 

With a weird laugh, the lanky teen stared at his friend. "I saw her kiss you!"

* * *

Keely's eyes opened wide for a second as she looked around the room and out the door. Indeed, there was a perfect view of Phil's locker from the doorframe. No hint of annoyance showed in her voice as she blinked, her eyes' trek around the room hidden again. "Who, pray tell, are you talking about?" she denied. 

"Phil, you headcase. I saw that smooch!" Tia divulged, her voice still low.

--

Now really irritated, Phil made a confused face, while sneaking a look through the door. Indeed, the spot where the two parted was very visible. "Seth, please. Stop joking around. Nobody kissed me, or at least that I know of," he pledged, utterly annoyed.

"Phil, come on! I saw Keely give you a smackaroo on the cheek, and look, your face is even red!" Seth blurted, though it was in a soft voice and no one heard him, except for Phil, who would rather not have.

* * *

"**WHAT SMOOCH?**" Keely yelled at the top of her lungs, gaining several looks from the students, both interested and aggravated. Quickly she thrust a hand up into the air. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," she muttered, her eyes on the ground. "What smooch?" she said more quietly. 

--

Phil lifted his head off his desk, moved it close to Seth's face, and narrowed his eyes. For effect, he grabbed Seth's collar and yanked him even closer. "_What smackaroo?_" he denied in a very angered voice.

* * *

Exasperated, Tia reprimanded her friend. "Where did you leave your brains this morning, Keely? I saw you kiss Phil on the cheek with my very own eyes." 

--

"Dude, how much sleep did you get last night? I saw her kiss you with my own two eyes!" Seth was obviously quite overworked about this, as he bounced up and down in his chair.

* * *

"I did no such thing," disclaimed Keely in a forced whisper. Tia just leaned back against her chair and chuckled to herself, while Keely folded her arms and shot furious looks at anyone whose eyes journeyed beyond her hair to her face. 

--

Phil, however, was not as pleased. He just put his head back down on his desk and closed his eyes again. "Keely did no such thing," he spat fiercely.

---

**A/N: Originally it was in the format of each character's own experience by itself, but I changed it to be like this because if it were an actual TV airing, this is how it would happen – one thing would happen in Keely's HR, then switch to the same thing in Phil's. The last two, with "I/Keely did no such thing," would each take half of the screen and go at the same time. I just think it's more authentic like this – sorry if it's jumpy-aroundy. For some reason I love to write things as if someone would actually produce them. For instance I think this would make an OK show finale.**

**I know it seems weird – they are very fiercely denying and I don't think it's like either of them to do that in this situation – but I like it better this way.**

**NOW REVIEW – NO FLAMES, and those spiffy Pheely Phluff Phan pillows to those of you who review.**


	3. Alone in the Hallways as Always

A/N: I'm sticking another chapter in here! Just a quickie describing their leaving homeroom and going to their next classes. It just wouldn't have felt right sticking this at the end of the previous chapter. Oh and I know that Pim is taking bio right now in the show, I don't know what science Keely and Phil are taking so I just put bio in because it makes for a great joke in the next chapter.

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Keely rose from her chair. Quickly she dashed out of her homeroom, eager to depart from the extremely awkward Tia situation. She reflected on the occurrences in homeroom… she hadn't assumed people had seen her. She didn't even think about that. Was it a good thing? A bad thing? How many people noticed, anyways?

This question was rapidly answered as she noticed how many people were whispering as she walked by. She lowered her head in… shame? But she couldn't be ashamed of it. They shouldn't even be speaking of it! _We're just friends_, she thought fiercely, as if the thoughts could make it true. _Friends can… kiss each other whenever they want_. Now, even to Keely this seemed a little far-fetched. But she just raised her head again and strode down the hall to biology. She wasn't about to fall prey to the curiosity of high school students, not even when they looked up in awe at her rather than whispering behind her back. "Whatever," she muttered as she kept walking.

--

Phil dashed out of homeroom, delighted to have an excuse to escape Seth's good-cop routine. The bell was never such a welcome sound. Gratefully he almost ran into his locker and pulled out his English books. Apparently people had heard about the kiss incident, because they nodded at him and some went "Yeah Phil!" when he walked past. He just pretended to be utterly confused about all this as he neared his classroom.

_We're just friends,_ he thought easily. _They're all just jealous. They want as great of a best friend as I have._ Of course he knew this wasn't true, but he ignored his intuitions and took a seat in his English class.

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A/N: I am just lovin' the parallels here! They're so much fun! PPP pillows to reviewers. You know how!


	4. Between Bio and a Hard Place

**A/N: Yay for having written four chapters in the three days I had to wait to submit stories. You won't be seeing any more at least a week after I upload this – I don't wanna spoil you guys!**

**Disclaimer: THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT MINE!**

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Two hours later, Phil walked to Keely's locker right before Algebra. "How was bio?" he questioned as he shifted his books to his left arm.

Neither of them seemed too keen on discussing the events in homeroom with each other, even though each of them thought they were the only ones who had been interrogated by their friends. Nevertheless, they both ignored previous events, both the kiss and the discussions that had followed thereafter.

Keely gave him a Look and turned to face him, her arms by her sides and standing perfectly straight like a grade-school girl performing for her teacher.

"Dust is ninety-five percent human skin tissue," she recited with a fake smile and a perky voice before turning back to her locker to retrieve her pink-paper-wrapped Algebra book from its depths.

"That bad, huh?" Phil sympathized.

With a disgusted look, Keely slammed her locker, causing several students to look curiously at her, no doubt with the gossip of the kiss on their mind. "Nothing to see here!" she yelled before rolling her eyes and making a face at Phil. "I am never going to touch dust ever, ever again."

Phil laughed and put a hand on her shoulder, making a mock concerned face and using a soothing voice. "And how does that make you feel, Miss Teslow?"

Keely finally laughed and brushed his hand away. "I'll get over it, Dr. Phil (_A/N: HAHAHA!_)," she chuckled.

"Well if it makes you feel better," Phil preached in the same tone, "in the future houses dust themselves."

"No… way!" Keely stopped walking and stared at her friend.

"Way," he nodded. "You should be used to the fact that a lot of things improve in the next one hundred and sixteen years! Now come on, we're gonna be late." He stepped ahead of her and walked toward the classroom. She, however, did not move.

Keely lifted her hand to touch where Phil had grabbed her shoulder. It was still warm there. After a second, she shouted, "Coming!" and hurried after him.

Or she tried to. She felt herself fall forward in slow motion, felt her legs crumple beneath her, felt the impact of her books on her stomach and arms, and felt her body smack the cold tile floor. Then… nothing.

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**A/N again: Yes, I know, really short compared to the other one. More coming soon! CLIFFHANGER! DUDE! Über-smart people may be able to figure out why she passed out but don't spoil it for anyone else!**


	5. Pickford Hope

**A/N: Okay you are all officially spoilt. Pfft. –blows raspberry- In any case, here's your next bit of Subtle Nuances. I know everyone wants to know what happens after Keel passes out, so here you go! Much love to GoldCatMaster, my first reviewer! Yay! -hands a PPP pillow with the "phluff phan" scratched out and replaced with "phanatic"-**

**Responding to reviews:**

**GoldCatMaster: Thanks for the welcome! ) Kudos on figuring out why she faints!**

**Queen of Harry Potter: Thanks, and I will update frequently as is apparent with this chapter!**

**Mondlering Moofoot: Thanks for taking the time to review my humble 'lil story! -grin- Good point with the "she/Keely" thing – I'll fix that after I upload this chapter. I'm so glad I made someone laugh, because I crack up as I write this thing (not this chapter though, this one's farrrr too depressing). And give me back my points, I'm spoiling you!  
**

**Thanks to any and all future reviewers!**

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Phil heard the "thunk" of something hitting the floor. He figured it was just someone's books and disregarded it. That is, he ignored it until he heard gasps and people dashing down the hallways. He spun around on his heel and dropped his own books, creating a similar sound.

Keely lay on the floor in front of him, totally crumpled up. Her long blonde hair created a shroud over her head, and her books were still under her. Without thinking twice, Phil scooped her up in his arms, with difficulty as he hadn't really ever done this before. Her head and shoulders were draped over his left arm, and he had his right arm under her knees with her legs folding over it. She had red marks on her cheeks and arms where her books and the floor had smacked her.

Terrified and with a human life in his arms, he rushed towards the front door of the school. With a well-placed foot he kicked it open, allowing the sunlight to stream through the double doors. People behind him in the hall tittered about this in low voices, but they all heard about the kiss and assumed that of course since his "girlfriend" was lying on the ground he would do something about it.

However he wasn't sure what he was going to do. He couldn't take her to the hospital, no, that wouldn't do. They would probably interrogate him, thinking he did something to her, and he didn't want to risk having to tell someone the truth about where he was from. For now, he decided, he would take her home. He must have looked crazy, jogging slowly down the sidewalk with a lifeless-looking blonde girl in his arms, but fortunately he lived very near school (_A/N: I don't know if he does or not but whatever_).

Impatient, Phil rounded the corner to his house. He tapped the doorbell, praying that someone would come to answer. No one did. Apparently his parents had chosen a fine time to go 21st century grocery shopping. Phil remembered the delivery by teleport of groceries in his own century, and wished that these "knuckle-draggers," as Pim referred to them, would hurry up and figure it out. After moving Keely so she was leaning against one arm, he rummaged around in his pocket for his door key with his free hand. After unlocking the door, he picked the blonde back up again.

Not-so-gracefully, he laid his friend's limp body out on the couch, checking for the soft rise and fall of her chest that told him she still breathed. With a gentle hand he smoothed her hair away from her face and spread her out comfortably, in case she did wake up. Next he did what he knew she would have him do if she were conscious – he pulled the now-infamous red lipgloss from her pocket and clumsily spread it across her lips. "I respect you more now Keel," he said as if she could hear him. "This stuff is not easy to deal with." After checking out of habit to see that she was comfortable and none of her limbs were falling off the couch, Phil dashed into the kitchen.

After a minute or two he returned, bearing in his hand a wet washcloth. Sitting on the couch, he lifted Keely's head up and placed it on his lap. Gently he wiped the rag across her forehead, in the hopes of reviving her. "Crackers," he murmured as he looked at the rag. Where it had once been white, it was now tan. He didn't pick up on it until he had wiped down her whole face. "My stars, Keel," he mused, "that is a lot of makeup." Her face had a new, fresh look on it, and even Phil could tell that it wasn't because of the sheen of water on her face. "My stars, Keel," he whispered again, "you should try this look more often." His soft wiping with the washcloth had stripped Keely's face of most of the foundation, powder, and blush that she wore each day.

Setting the washcloth to the side, Phil stroked his friend's face with his own warm hand. "Keel, why? Why the impulsive kiss? Why did you pass out? Keely Teslow, I need to know so we can fix you! Why…" Worn out from carrying his friend and from the day's stress, he fell asleep, his hand in Keely's hair and his head tilted away from her.

--

"Lloyd, just because something is on sale doesn't mean you _have_ to get it," Barb criticized.

"I know, but, I mean, come on!" Lloyd had already figured _that_ was going nowhere. "I… love you?"

"Mmhm," mumbled his wife, mostly to herself, as she unlocked the door. First thing she saw when she opened it was her son and his best friend sprawled on the couch. Phil was sitting upright, or looked like he was an hour ago. Now his body was tilted onto the armrest, and Keely had her head in his lap. His hands were entwined in her hair. "Oh, dear me!" she whispered, walking over to Phil. She tapped his head lightly.

"Mom?" Phil said groggily, lifting his fists to wipe the sleep goo from his eyes. "Oh my stars, Mom this isn't what it looks like!" He lifted Keely's head gently off his lap and put it back down on the couch when he got up.

Barb cocked one eyebrow. "Well I wasn't considering that before, but now I'm thinking it was." They were all whispering, as if Keely would wake up because of the volume of their voices. "What exactly _is_ it?"

Phil sighed and walked to stand next to his mother, both looking at Keely's limp body. "Keel passed out at school," he said in a normal voice, to prove his point. "In the hallway. No one else seemed to care so I picked her up and carried her home. I wiped her face with a washcloth and it didn't seem to help. I guess I was exhausted, and I fell asleep. I don't know what to do and I'm really scared. I checked to make sure she has a pulse and everything, I mean, she's breathing. But still, I don't know what to do…" His voice faded and the three were left with odd looks on their faces.

"Lloyd, go put the groceries away please," Barb ordered. "Phil, we need to take Keely to the hospital."

"No, we are not going to the hospital!" shouted an angry Lloyd from the kitchen. "I don't trust those 21st century doctors. Besides, what if they ask us questions? We can't tell them anything without telling them we're from the future!"

Barb sighed. "Lloyd, we may not be from this century, but Keely is, and no one can treat her better than the doctors of her own time." She turned to Phil. "Can you carry her back to the 21st century transportation vehicle?" Phil nodded. "Good. Hon, we will be back when we figure out what's wrong with Keely."

Phil scooped her up and carried her out to the car, spreading her out on the three backseats and sitting back there under her head again. His mom took off slightly over the speed limit to the local hospital.

--

"Mrs. Diffy, Mr. Diffy," a doctor pushed the door open. "I am Doctor Hershey," he annunciated, for some odd reason or another. Phil and Barb disregarded it. "Miss Teslow's vitals are all fine, except for the fact that she is not aware of her surroundings. Actually, we think that she is aware of her surroundings but she cannot force her body to respond. Something is disconnected, so to speak, and her body will not work or do what she wants, but we see some brain activity. We are going to try to rouse her sometime today. You may stay as long as you like, even overnight, seeing as this is such an odd case," he rattled the entire thing off. Then he pointed out the little red button to call a nurse with and left the room.

"Hon, I'm going to leave," Barb apologized. "Your father refused to learn 21st century cooking, or at least to a degree high enough to cook his own lunch, and I don't trust him with Pim's or his own stomach. I will visit this evening, and tomorrow, if you want to stay overnight." Naturally she had assumed Phil would want to, considering his best friend was lying in a bed, and semi-unconscious. She put a couple $20s in his hand and he gratefully stuffed them in his pocket.

Phil, of course, nodded. "Of course, Mom. I'll stop by the cafe and get some lunch and dinner, and for the most part just stay right here. I'll see if I can figure out anything that may have gone wrong." He stood to hug his mother and kissed her cheek, and then she left. Phil and Keely were alone.

"Keel, please get better. I don't trust these doctors any more than I can throw them, but Mom's right. Only 21st century medicine can make you better – anything I try would probably make you worse." His eyes were tearing up, but he blinked it back. "I know you'll make it. And I know you can hear me. Pull through, Keel." He took her hand in his and rubbed it, keeping a careful eye on her vitals and 0­2 saturations. They didn't have a mask or anything on her, just those blinking red thingies on her fingers. Phil didn't know much about the art of medicine but he did know he had to figure out what happened… and fast.

Suddenly his opportunity smacked him in the face. Keely's eyes fluttered open. "Phil?" she asked weakly. "Phil, what happened?"

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**A/N: w00t for Pheely Phluff! Okay, slight Pheely Phluff, even if the "eely" part isn't totally there. But really, I mean, which one of us doesn't want to be carried home by Phil? And she was unconscious the whole time! No fair… -sinks off into a daydream- R&R! And this one was a lot longer than other chapters! Also, I don't know much about hospitals so forgive me if my info and stuff is wrong… not sure how they measure brain activity but they managed it. So there. Pfft. More soon, I swear.**


	6. Hershey, MD

**A/N: w00t for PDAs while waiting in the dentist's office. This chapter isn't very good because I'm not sure how to get to where I want them to go. In any case, I had Dr. Hershey saying "girlfriend's side" rather than "friend's side" and they both protested but I decided to change it, and the secret admirer was going to be a really corny friend card from Phil but I thought having it be from Curtis would be cuter, so... This is chapter 6, aka "Hershey, M.D.," of Subtle Nuances. Brownie points if you figure out how I got the title (hint: similar to how I got "Pickford Hope," brownie points if you figured that one out!).**

**I apparently lost some people but I'm gonna reply to reviews now:**

**TvFANatic26: well you ought to get it now :)  
**

**1080: here you go:)  
**

**GoldCatMaster: I do apologize. How did I manage that? -slaps self-**

**Be234therz: thanks! I have this and more coming!**

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Phil rubbed Keely's arm. "You passed out, remember? The doctor said that you should remember what was going on, because you had brain activity. You don't remember that?"

Keely shook her head. "Last thing I remember was going to Algebra after bio. I remember..." Her already strained voice was interrupted by a fit of weak coughing.

Phil raised his eyebrows, squeezing her hand very tightly. "What, Keel? What do you remember?"

Well, there was definitely some brain activity now. _I don't want to tell him about keeping my hand on my shoulder where he put his!_ "I remember following you, you were ahead of me..." she skipped what had followed, "and then... nothing."

"So how do you still have brain activity?" Phil wondered, relaxing his grip on Keely's hand ever so slightly. "How could those machines have made such a drastic mistake? There's no activity to register, it shouldn't have registered anything! I mean, I knew 21st century technology was pretty lame but still…"

At that moment, Dr. Hershey carefully opened the door. "Why, good morning, Miss Teslow!" he greeted her with a smile. "And Mr. Diffy, I see you decided to stay at your friend's side. Excellent. Miss Teslow, how are you feeling?"

"I feel okay, Dr..."

"Hershey," he chipped in. "You ought to remember my name."

Keely tried to nod. "I know I should, but I don't remember anything after passing out at school." Dr. Hershey nodded, taking notes in a spiral.

"Mr. Diffy, please tell me what happened."

Phil recounted the story to the doctor, telling only what happened as and after she passed out. Suddenly Phil was interrupted by a sharp, high-pitched shout. Both he and the doctor looked over at Keely. Her eyes had rolled back into her head and her arms were twitching. Dr. Hershey looked up at the vitals and Phil followed his gaze. Her 02 sats were in the eighties. "Keel!"

The doctor reached for an oxygen mask and with lightning speed affixed it to Keely's face. Her breathing became normal again and she stopped twitching. "She's gone back out, Mr. Diffy," said the doctor. "Back into unconsciousness. If you like I can wait with her for a few moments while you run out to get lunch."

Phil accepted the doctor's proposal gratefully. "Thanks, I will do that." Without really thinking he bent over Keely and gave her a peck on the forehead, more of a fatherly kiss than anything, and left the room quietly.

--

Twenty minutes later Phil returned, his arms laden with... stuff. He had a plastic bag on one wrist, a doggy bag in one hand, a really big cup in the other, and a tub of applesauce in the crook of an elbow. He set all these things down with a grateful nod to the doctor, who left, and sat next to the bed. Taking Keely's hand in his own, he rubbed it like he had been doing all morning. Her eyelids fluttered open again.

"Phil?" she asked. "How long have I been out?"

Phil smiled a worried but happy smile. "My stars, Keel, you really scared us there. You've been out about twenty-five or thirty minutes. I went to grab lunch, among other things." From the bag he produced a spoon, which he showed to Keely along with the applesauce before putting it under his chair. "Here's yours, I asked the nurse and she said you could eat only if you asked the doctor." Again he plunged his hand into the bag and this time pulled out a blue teddy bear, which he put by her arm. "And I grabbed this from the gift shop as well. I also called your mom. She said she's got a business trip tomorrow but she'll stop by tonight." The two things he didn't give Keely were a salad, his own lunch, and a huge cup of coffee, decaf but coffee all the same.

"Thanks, Philly-Willy," Keely said through the oxygen mask. "I feel a lot better now. I'm not hungry, though. I'm sleepy." She seized the blue bear with a death grip like a small child and closed her eyes. Phil opened his salad and ate it with one hand while he again took Keely's hand, ignoring the silly nickname.

--

Keely woke up again two hours later, and a multitude of people surrounded her bed. Her mother was there, Tia and Seth were there, Phil's parents and Pim were there, and of course Phil still sat by her side like a faithful akita. She grinned as best she could, and noticed that the oxygen mask was gone. She squeezed Phil's hand, knowing he was still holding it, and pulled him close.

"Wow, there sure are a lot of people here," she marveled into his ear. "But can I eat now?"

Phil grinned and fished around under his seat, handing her the applesauce and spoon. "That's the Keely I know!" He leaned back and waved a hand around the room. "Your well-wishers and friends sent you these," he nodded. "And this one came from a secret admirer." He handed her a pot of daisies.

"Keely, me hope you better soon," he read for her from the card. It was signed with very messy script, but Keely immediately knew whom it was from.

"Send Curtis my love too," she said with a grin.

--

Keely had had fun with her friends there in the room, but she was tired and it got late. She and Phil sent them off. "Phil, you should go. You need sleep, and there are plenty of doctors to watch me overnight." Keely raised a hand and waved him off. "See how much better I am? I'll be fine."

"No," Phil protested. "I'm staying here. Long as you're here, so am I." Obviously Keely didn't mind, because se squeezed his hand one last time before rolling onto her side and going to sleep immediately. Phil flipped the light switch.

One of the nurses had shown Phil and his mom how the couch folded out into a bed, so he pulled the thin blanket over him, curled up in the freezing room, and almost fell asleep. However something caught his eye outside the glass doors, and opened them to let his mother in. "Mom, what?"

"What did you do today?" she whispered back.

Phil shrugged to himself. "Gave Keel breakfast, got a stain out of her shirt..."

"How?" Barb interrupted.

"Oh my gosh, the Stain-Getter-Outer!"

"I figured," she said calmly, "when Pim got jelly on her shirt in a food fight, and I couldn't find it. Phil, you need to get her home ASAP."

"The doc said she'd have to stay overnight, so I'll try for tomorrow," Phil vowed.

"I hope that's not too late," his mother sighed.

"What do you mean?"

Barb sighed again. "Adverse effects, Phil! No one knows what could happen to her. Weird things have happened to people whose best friends," she gave her son a Look accompanied by a slight smile, "tried alpha or even beta inventions on them. None of the effects were bad on us when we used it, because we have better immune systems; our bodies are stronger. But we don't know if these 21st century bodies can stand up to future inventions, and considering Keely's reaction, this is one of them that just can't." Before Phil asked, she continued. "Our people have ways of figuring this out, if they will work or not in 21st century people. They anticipated that something would go wrong someday." But the conversation was cut short by footsteps. "Here," she shoved a green fluffy thing at her son. "I figured you might want a sleeping bag." She kissed his head and turned around to depart, escaping through a back stairwell right before the doctor turned into their hall. Phil rolled the sleeping bag out onto the couch and fell asleep.

---

**A/N: So, there it is. Chapter 6 while waiting in the dentist's office. I know it's probably überconfusing and I don't know why it seems like that but I promise the next chapter will be easier to understand. I also know we have spent lots of time in the hospital but it was fun to write (which sounds awful), and I can come up with good chapter names. Again, I don't know much about hospitals, but I'm assuming that 02 sats below the 90s aren't good since last time I was in one there was a lot of that. There's a lot of Keel's awake, she's asleep, she's out, and she's about. Preview of next chapter: THEY LEAVE THE HOSPITAL. –awaits the cheers- Pillows to reviewers. Don't complain about the whole "this product not tested on 21st century people" dealio - I tried to climb that hill as I came to it but it didn't turn out well. I explained as best I could. Leave it alone - it's summer and my writing skills whooshed down the drain.  
**


	7. Special Gadgets Unit

A/N: my muse returned! So here's the next chapter. This part about the police was supposed to be in an earlier chapter but I forgot about it until now, so that didn't work out real well… so if it seems awkward having it in here now just, get over it! LOL :)

**GoldCatMaster: yup, it did. More kudos :)**

**Fisharecoolies: thanks! Here it is!**

**Lovebug1021-ilk: thanks!**

**---**

Phil woke up to the sound of someone pushing open the hospital door very fast. It creaked and shuddered and finally went into its designated hole-in-the-wall, and Phil rolled over in his sleeping bag to face the person.

There were actually several people, and they were all wearing blue shirts with black pants and a black hat. Soon enough he figured out that they must be 21st century police. He rolled out of bed and stood up to shake their hands. Then he thought, _They must know I'm from the future!_ He strained to keep a smile on his face as he deftly folded the bed up and rolled his sleeping bag, tossing it in a corner. He invited the police to sit down but they declined, instead, one pulled out a legal pad and pen.

"Mr. Diffy, I presume," said the one with the pen in a gruff voice. "And I suppose this must be Miss Teslow." Phil nodded in agreement. "Then we are in the right place. Mr. Diffy, please recount to us the story of Miss Teslow's passing out." Phil did, and the officer took notes. "Have you any idea as to why Miss Teslow fainted?"

Phil kept a calm look and shrugged. "I dunno, Mr. Officer sir, we were walking to Algebra and she just… passed out behind me." Of course he couldn't mention the Stain-Getter-Outer!

The policeman nodded. "And you carried her back to your house. I see, Mr. Diffy, that she has several bruises on her face and arms. Would you care to describe how those came about?"

"Yes sir, when she fell she fell forward and her books crushed her arms. Her face hit the ground too."

The officer nodded. "Tell me of your relationship with Miss Teslow."

This took Phil by surprise, but he decided it would be best just to answer the question. "She and I have been best friends for three years."

"Is that… all?" the policeman asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes sir, that is all."

"Interesting," he mused. "Well, we are here on account of the doctor. He saw the bruises and it reminded him of something he has dealt with often. Mr. Diffy, are you aware of the laws surrounding physical abuse?"

"Excuse me?" Phil shuddered, "What do you mean?"

"The bruises!" the policeman pointed, speaking in a forced whisper. "They are reminiscent of spousal or other physical abuse. I'm afraid that until Miss Teslow wakes up, we will have to remove you from this room."

Right on cue, Keely woke. "Oh thank the heavens," Phil cried as he rushed to her side. He brushed a hand over her forehead to get the hair from her eyes, and as he did he saw they were full of tears.

"Phil," she whispered, the tears escaping and threading down her cheeks, "it hurts. All over. I heard what they said. Let me talk to them." She shoved Phil out of the way and looked at the policemen.

"Sirs," she said, "I guarantee you that Phil had nothing to do with this." Of course she didn't know about the SGO incident, but she was telling the truth from what she knew. "He is my best friend and would never hurt me."

The officer didn't look convinced. "Are you sure, Miss Teslow?"

She nodded fervently. "Yes sir, Phil and I are best friends and have been. He would never ever do anything to hurt me."

The officer nodded. "Thank you Miss Teslow. We will leave this time, but if any further incidents occur we will be back." Keely just nodded happily.

As they left, she turned back to Phil, her eyes still glistening. "Phil, Phil, what's wrong with me? My entire body is aching, and I keep shivering."

Phil grimaced. "The SGO."

"The what?"

"The Stain-Getter-Outer," he explained. "The alpha wasn't post-22nd century tested. The government of 2121 anticipated people traveling in the past, even just for leisure, and knew that someday someone would be tempted to help someone with future gadgets. They test every new gadget on an array of replicas of people from past times." Before she asked, he cut her off. "The Replicator was the first approved device – it was used on the real people, and then we figured it was much more humane to just copy them and use replicas. I know it sounds immoral, but it's not. In the future, there's an all-around antidote that every device is designed to use. Anything goes wrong, just use the Antidoter and it's fixed immediately. Unfortunately, those are reserved for hospitals and testing centers, and we don't have one. Testing is required for all beta devices, since that's when people get a hold of prototypes, but not for alpha. You have to stay awake and pretend to be better. The SGO harmed you and only my parents can figure it out!"

Keely just closed her eyes to squeeze out the tears, and nodded. "I hardly understood any of that, but we can leave." She sat up, surprising considering the state she had been in the previous day, and brushed the tears from her eyes. Phil pressed the call button.

Almost immediately Dr. Hershey appeared, and Keely smiled through her grimace. "Doctor, may I go home? Please? I feel fine!"

He looked skeptical, but he changed his mind when Keely climbed out of bed and danced on the floor. Phil smiled a sad smile, because he could only imagine how badly she was hurting from that. "Yes, Miss Teslow. You may go home, as long as this Diffy lad escorts you. I apologize about the police, I must be at my most careful!" Phil nodded.

"Let's go!" Phil grabbed Keely's hand and they skipped out the door.

"I will be sending bills home!" cried the doctor behind them, but they hardly heard. As soon as they got in the elevator, Keely crumpled to the floor.

"Phil, it hurts so bad! Can you carry me?"

Of course she had forgotten about him carrying her all the way home yesterday, and his arms started to ache just thinking about it. He ignored it, though, and scooped her up in his arms again. On second thought, as they descended the extremely slow elevator, he set her down again momentarily, pulling a cell phone from his pocket and dialing. "Mom, can you come get us? Keely's released!" He hung up immediately and picked his friend up again.

Keely smiled and leaned her head up against Phil's chest, burying her face in his black shirt. It was soft. Her still-crying eyes left dark splotches on it, but she just closed her eyes again and fell asleep, exhausted from the pain. Phil grinned as he walked into the lobby after the longest elevator ride of his life, and saw his mom in the car outside. He walked to it, opened the door, and laid Keely down again across his lap. Stroking her hair, he thought about the already-eventful morning.

---

**A/N: how Pheely! Awwwww! Don't get on my back about the police leaving so fast or them leaving the hospital so fast, I have no idea how these things work.**


	8. The Breakfast Club

**A/N: Lots of people commented wanting more!**

**Rainismysunshine, fisharecoolies, and luvbug1021-ilk: here you all go, new fresh chapter!**

**Writingforalonelyheart: this deserved to be answered. I am honored that you would add me to one of your favorite stories! Hugs!**

**Missperfect (from PotF Island): many, many hugs to you!**

**---**

Barb unlocked the door and Phil carried Keely into his house again as he had twenty-four hours earlier. He rested her on the couch and then thought better of it. Carefully he picked her up again, not wanting to wake her, and carried her up the stairs to his room. The walking up the stairs with at least a hundred-pound bundle in his arms quickly tired his legs, but he ignored it as he set her down on his bed and covered her up with a blanket. She rolled over and curled around the blanket, huddling in a ball on the mattress. Phil smiled despite the situation and went downstairs to find Lloyd, closing the door silently.

"What's up?" said Lloyd as he saw his son walk into the kitchen. The Time Crumpler glowed in his hands, and he put it back into the refrigerator when he saw the look on Phil's face. The fridge had come to be the storage place for the TC, since the Diffys ate sprayfood for the most part anyways, and only Phil and Pim (and, somehow, Curtis) actually knew what the cold box _was _for. "Phil, how is Keely? She's not…"

"No!" Phil interrupted before his father could spit out whatever had come to mind. "No. Keely's fine. Well, not fine. She's in a lot of pain right now. And I know what happened."

From his backpack, which his mother had apparently stopped by his school to pick up, he produced the SGO, and his father rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you didn't use that on Keely!"

"I won't tell you, then."

"Phil, Phil, Phil, _Phil, PHIL!_" Lloyd exclaimed as he had when he found out that Phil had used a milk engine on a science project. "That was only in alpha! It was untested!"

"No kidding," Phil monotoned. "Mom figured that part out. In any case, can you reverse the effects of this?"

Lloyd sighed. "I can try." With the glowing stick he had been using on the TC, he poked and prodded the SGO. "If I could get it to spit the stain back out onto Keely, it might undo everything. But it has to be on the exact same shirt in the exact same spot. Let me work on it. You go check on Keely."

Phil was only too happy to oblige. He dashed back up the stairs and stopped right before the door, opening it quietly again. Keely was lying awake on his bed, obviously miserable. He sat down by her and she sat up, leaning her entire torso against his body, and he hugged her shoulders. "God, Keel, I was so scared. I thought you might, y'know, kick the bucket."

Despite herself, Keely managed a laugh. "What a delicate way of saying it. I did too. But I don't remember anything. Well, you know, besides the…"

Phil nodded with a small smile. He knew exactly what she was talking about. "Yeah. Seth gave me the third degree."

Another laugh. This must be a good sign. "If Seth gave you the third, Tia gave me the fourth. It's like Big Brother."

Phil chuckled. "High school sucks."

Keely shrugged and smiled. "Not everything about it sucks," she said with a rueful giggle. "Friends are the best part of it, and the worst part. They track your every move, which could be a bad thing… or a good thing. Speaking of, thanks for having my back out there. Literally."

"Anytime," Phil said softly. "Just don't do it again anytime soon."

Their little tender moment was ruined when Keely started crying again. "Phil, please, can you make it stop? Anything, anything to make it stop!"

Phil was on the verge of tears as well. It was Gehenna to see his best friend going through this. "My dad's working on it. I promise, you'll be all better soon. I swear."

Her body was racked with sobs and Phil felt the throbs of pain coursing through her body from her voice. "I haven't hurt like this in a really long time. Not since… well, that doesn't count. Not in a long time."

"Not since what?" Phil couldn't help asking.

"Well, you know, not since… you and Alice were at the ball."

This took Phil by surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I was… jealous. I guess flirting with Robby the Robot was my payback, eh?" she chuckled through her tears.

"Yeah, I guess it was."

"Anyone want some brunch?" Phil heard his mom yell up the stairs.

"C'mon," he said, pulling Keely to her feet. "Can you walk?" She shook her head, and he got under her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I've carried you places twice and my arms are killing me."

Keely tried to punch his arm but didn't have the energy. "Twice?"

"Home from school."

"Right," Keely mused. "I wouldn't remember that. Please, Philly-Willy?" She looked up into his brown eyes and made a sad face.

"I am putty in your hands," he admitted, scooping her up again. Keely laughed, and hugged him as best she could. He put her down again on the couch. Apparently the pain wasn't very bad, because she sat upright and had stopped crying a few minutes before. Barb brought in a spraycan and two plates and forks, and Phil sprayed first onto his plate. Two delectable pancakes smothered in syrup emerged from the foam and he grinned, spraying some for Keely as well. They ate, and Keely leaned her head on Phil's shoulder. Suddenly she looked up at him, and he looked down at her. They neared, closer, closer…

"Strawberries, anyone?" Barb stood in the doorway between the kitchen and den, holding up a bowl of red foam that was slowly becoming berry-shaped. Phil and Keely turned away from each other, blushing furiously, but accepted the berries.

---

**A/N: Pheelier! w00t!**


	9. I Won't Say It

**A/N: Another chapter for you Pheely Phluff Phans.**

**Luvbug1021-ilk: No kidding! Stupid Barb lol, but without her Keely would probably be dead since as far as I know Phil doesn't drive so….**

**TJ: yup, I have haha…**

**Fisharecoolies: it has the same effect on me, since it's not an official episode LOL… I keep thinking how I want there to be some contest where the best fanfiction would get produced into a real episode, but I would lose to a lot of other fanfics soooo… But thanks anyways! Hugs!**

**Dove-turns-2-duck: Awwww…well if it makes you feel any better Curtis could be a great author in Cro-Magnon-ese! LOL just kiddin'.. luv ya! Thanks for reviews!**

**Moofoot: NO, NO BOTHERING ANYONE ELSE. JUST ME! Lol… didn't they take the part out about Barb being a robot? I wish they hadn't, it would have been interesting! -points to a huge truck- That's carting your pillows to you! Hugs! And no, I won't kill Keels lol :)**

**Missperfect: again, thanks for reviewing on the Island! Hugs!**

**CorynTopangaFan: Thanks for the review :) I will read it soon.**

**---**

Lloyd followed Barb into the den where the two friends were red-faced and turned away from each other. Slightly confused as usual, he just shrugged and tossed the SGO at Phil, who grabbed it off the couch when it smacked into his back. "Nice aim, Dad," he said sarcastically as he held it up. "So, what do I do?"

"Aim it at the shirt and press the trigger," Lloyd explained. "It'll squirt the stain right out. Try to put it back where you took it from."

Keely grimaced, not from pain but from frustration. "But I love this shirt!"

"Don't worry," Barb interjected. "I have some 21st century stain remover that can get butter out, easy."

"Thanks," she muttered quietly as Phil aimed the can at her shirt. He pressed the trigger and the yellow shot out on Keely's shirt again. Almost as if it had been a bullet rather than butter, she rocked back and passed out again, falling forward off the couch.

"Keely!" Phil yelled as he caught her. "Good God, my arms have been doing the work of your legs lately!" He turned to Lloyd. "What now?"

"She'll come around soon," he responded. "Her body has to undo the damage."

Phil watched anxiously as Keely's body twitched, and the bruises on her arms disappeared almost instantly. Then she dropped onto the couch and let out a loud snore. Relieved, Phil held back his laugh. "I'll let her sleep. Keel, you ought to be ready and raring now, you've been sleeping so much!"

After about five minutes and loud snoring, Keely stirred. "What happened?"

"It's gone," Phil responded. "Or at least your symptoms are. The butter's back on your shirt."

"Who knew a little tub of butter could be such a pain in the butt?"

"You should have taken the cream cheese!" Phil grinned.

Keely shook her head with a smile. "No, next time I'll eat the bagel straight."

Barb interrupted again with a spraycan, not food but cleaner. "Let me have your shirt."

Keely reached down to pull it off and then noticed she was in public. "Right. Do you have something I can borrow?"

Barb nodded and waved for Keely to follow her. "Come up and I'll give you another shirt to wear." Keely nodded gratefully and followed Barb up the steps, using her own legs again.

Lloyd had finally figured it out. "You really like her, don't you, Phil?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw what was going on before your mom walked into the room. I saw how you carried her everywhere, and, yes, I noticed the wet spots on your shirt when you brought her in from the hospital. It doesn't take a proton engineer to figure these things out. You let her cry in your shirt. Now that, son, is love."

"I do not love Keely," Phil denied, and was surprised at how harsh that sounded. "I mean, I love her like a friend but not _love_ love, y'know?"

"Sure," Lloyd said.

--

Barb dug through her drawers. "Ah-ha. This ought to fit." She pulled out a beautiful pink blouse and handed it to Keely.

"Wow, I'll be extra careful not to get butter on this!" she said in awe, fingering the collar on the ruffled blouse. "This is absolutely gorgeous!"

Barb laughed as she closed her drawers. "The bathroom's that way," she pointed to a door. "Change and I'll clean your shirt."

Keely nodded and dashed into the bathroom. Moments later she emerged and twirled around on one foot, the ruffles floating around her. "Fabulous," Barb grinned. "You look great. My son will definitely be impressed."

"What?" Keely turned away from the mirror. "What does this have to do with Phil?"

"Oh, nothing," Barb chuckled, "except he saved your life several times and I know how you feel about him, and how he feels about you."

"I don't… what did he say?" she broke in.

"See?"

Keely groaned. "Ms. Diffy, Phil and I are just best friends. Why does everyone keep getting on my back about this?"

"Because everyone can see it," Barb explained. "It's so obvious! You guys spend every second of every day together, and besides, I broke in with the strawberries right in the middle of your little moment, didn't I?"

Keely just groaned again and danced out of the room down the stairs. She finished the flight with another spin and Phil grinned, walking up to her. They were alone, Lloyd had gone back to his TC and Barb was up in her room rearranging her drawers. Phil held his hand out and bowed with a flourish. "May I have this dance, milady?" He jabbed a button on the Wiz'rd and classical music came out of nowhere.

Blushing furiously, Keely accepted his hand and they waltzed around the room, Phil dipping her every now and then. She grinned, light on her feet, following Phil's lead. The song finished and they collapsed on the couch in fits of giggles. "It's so nice to be able to stand up, let alone dance," Keely said between laughs.

"I was so worried about you."

"Phil, it's over. Stop saying that!"

Phil took in a deep breath. "My dad was right. This was a lot harder than it should have been. I can't stop saying it. I'm so glad you're alive."

As she had when Phil was being such a perfectionist about his video, Keely silenced him with a finger. There was a twist this time – she removed it and kissed him. His eyes opened in surprise but he got into it… quickly.

---

**A/N: no it's not over yet.**


	10. Behind These Teary Eyes

**A/N: WHEE that last chapter was fun.**

**TJ: Yes, I know you will. And you did. Gosh, I should have my own TV show… but who would watch a show about a teen psychic? LOL… whoa too much sugar!**

**Fisharecoolies: or they were!**

**Rainismysunshine: you're telling me… LOL**

**1080: HUGS thanks :)**

**Missperfect: whee thanks for keeping up with it! Boxes of hugs and pillows to ya!**

---

Humming, Barb descended the stairs with Keely's now-clean shirt in one hand, the spray bottle of cleaner in the other. She almost missed the next step when she saw Phil and Keely on the couch… _Oy_, she thought, _I ought to lay down. Seeing things!_ Gripping the handrail she went slowly down the stairs, eyes closed to avoid seeing what was in front of her. When she made it to the floor, she thought there was another step and collapsed on her bent leg. Phil and Keely sprung apart like a mousetrap and Phil rushed to grab his mom's arm.

"Mom, you okay? You are from the 22nd century, right? We didn't use something on you we weren't supposed to?"

"Yes, Phil, I'm fine. Just… seeing things, I suppose," she said, blatantly ignoring what had been before her on purpose. Personal lives were not to be interfered with, or at least when it was her son and his best friend. She was definitely good enough for him, Barb thought with a smile. She gathered her things and went to put Keely's shirt in the washer.

Phil turned back to Keely. "Well," he said with a quirky grin. "That was certainly unexpected!"

"Of course it was," she responded. "This is me you're dealing with."

Phil nodded, but his face fell. "What does this mean, Keel?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "It was kinda impulsive. I dunno, a thank you kiss? Y'know, for saving my life and all?"

"Keel, we both know that that was more than a thank you kiss."

Keely started crying, and immediately Phil was at her side. "Does it hurt again?" She nodded, and he was about to call Lloyd in when she shook her head.

"No, not like that," she said through sobs. Phil let out an audible sigh. "My heart aches."

Phil cocked his head, a quizzical look on his face. "Your heart?"

"Phil!" she complained. "We have to face it. You won't be here forever. Your father, though however long it takes him, will fix the time machine, and you won't want to stay. Phil, I… I don't want you to leave. I really don't."

Totally not getting the gist of Keely's words, Phil pointed into the kitchen. "Keel, my dad's never going to get it fixed. My parents like it here just as much as I do!"

From the utility room, Barb yelled, "I hate these 21st century washers!"

"Okay," Phil conceded, "almost as much as I do. We're not leaving any time soon!"

Keely seized the phone from the side table and furiously dialed a number. "Prepare a bed," she spat into the phone. "I'm coming over." Then, as she got up, she picked up a hand and slapped Phil's face, turning his cheek red.

"What was that for?" he asked incredulously.

"For being a moron!" she yelled. "Ms. Diffy, have Phil bring it to school," she shouted over the washer before spinning on her heel and storming out the door, leaving Phil looking at his mom.

"Hey, don't look at me, _moron_," she said simply. "I'll leave you two to figure out your teenage problems. It's good practice."

--

"And then I kissed him again."

"So I was right? Your denial in homeroom was just… denial?"

Keely was explaining the situation, minus the future gadgets of course, to Tia, in whose room she was sitting, and whose teddy bear she was hugging, having left the blue one at Phil's house by accident. "Right. Anyway, Ms. Diffy walked in on us and tripped on the stairs, and he helped her up. I started crying after that and he totally didn't get it! Stupid Phil! I slapped him right after I called you."

Tia sighed. "Girl, you have a complicated social life!"

"No kidding," Keely complained. "I wish it weren't!"

"So you love him," Tia said simply.

Keely tried to look surprised but failed. "Yeah, I guess I do," she murmured, finally coming to some closure about it.

--

Pim strolled down the stairs, a very haughty smile on her face. "So you and Little Miss Sunshine finally came around, eh?"

"What do you mean?" Phil asked, exasperated.

"Saw the whole thing," Pim smirked, and waved a silver thing in the air. "And got pictures."

Phil dove for the 21st century camera in her hand and she pulled it away, leaving him to slam into the stairs. "Pim, not cool!" He rolled over to sit on one of the bottom steps and his sister sat next to him.

"So," she said. "Why aren't you two having a snogfest on the couch right now? Trouble in Sunshine Paradise?"

"Why does everyone keep treating us like we're going out or something?"

Pim sighed and shook her head. _Oy, what a loser! What could she see in him?_ "Because you're best friends who just overstepped those boundaries," she explained. "There is no such thing as a friendly kiss. It always means something."

"Are you being… nice?" Phil asked incredulously. "Because if you are, I'm worried."

Pim pouted. "Why does everyone always expect the worst of me?"

Standing, Phil ruffled his sister's hair, to which she objected and promptly smacked his hand. "Ow. Because that's what we love about you," he said affectionately. He walked to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To fix things," Phil answered simply before opening the door and leaving, slamming it behind him. His sister just sighed.

--

Keely heard the doorbell. Tia was sitting on the bed with a half-gallon carton of ice cream in her lap and a spoon in her hand, and Keely just waved her back down. "I'll get it," she said as she dashed downstairs to the door. Pulling it open, she noticed it was Phil. "Hello Philip," she said in an irritated tone. But before she could continue, Phil leaned forward, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her toward him, kissing her. It was her turn to be pleasantly surprised.

---

**A/N: next chap will probably be the last. But there will be a sequel! I'll be gone for about a month, but I can write for the first half. The rest you'll have to be patient :)**


	11. The End of the Beginning

**A/N: After quite a hiatus due to writer's block, Subtle Nuances returns to please the fans! I am going to fight my writer's block! This may or may not be the final chapter, we'll find out when I'm done writing it!**

**Moofoot: you had better! More trucks of pillows coming your way!**

**Rainismysunshine: why thank you! -bows with a flourish-**

**TJ: yes, they do. Every single one of them. And awws are always appreciated :)**

**Queen of Harry Potter: I hope it gets as good of reviews as this one did :)**

**Atomic-star: HUGS! That totally made my day.**

**1080: haha thanks, so am I :)**

**Luvbug1021-ilk: thanks :) Hugs!**

**Everyone from POTF Island: thanks for reading this. You guys helped me chisel the writer's block!**

---

Keely and Phil stood there in the doorway for a couple of minutes, Keely's eyes wide open and Phil's closed the whole time. Something clattered to the floor. "Okay, ew, enough!" interrupted a voice through a mouthful of food.

The pair broke apart and turned to face a Tia, a huge glop of ice cream in her mouth and the carton in her hand, spoon on the floor. "Oh, hello, Tia," Phil said with a smile, apparently not realizing he had red lipstick smeared across his face. Tia stifled a giggle with a serious face and grabbed Keely's arm, yanking her across the foyer to the bottom of the stairwell.

"Okay. One, that was gross. Two, I thought you were mad at Phil?" She had swallowed the ice cream in the best interest of the people in the foyer.

Keely shrugged, a ditzy smile on her face. "I was. I guess he changed all of that."

"I guess he changed all of that," Tia repeated, fluttering her eyelashes and using a falsetto. "Yeah, no kidding!" she said, back in her regular voice. "Girl, you are smitten!"

"Yeah, I guess I am!" Keely sighed happily.

Tia shook her head. "This is just too wrong. This isn't a Keely kind of thing to do! Keely wouldn't be swooning, she'd be asking! Have some dignity!" With the unoccupied hand, the brunette shoved Keely towards Phil, who was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, and a killer smile on his face despite the lipstick.

"Yeah." She walked to stand next to Phil. "What was that all about?"

Phil moved to allow her space on the doorframe, which she leaned against, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I thought about it. Keel, I know you don't want me to go back to the fu… back home," he quickly corrected, ignoring Tia completely. "You know, to Lawrence, Kansas, the geographical center of the nation." His voice trailed off, and Keely nodded, prodding him back into what he was saying. "And I don't want to leave either. I want to stay here. With you. Keely, I love you." He reached for her waist and twirled her around the living room to music only the two of them could hear, dipping her back and kissing her again.

--

"KEELY!" Tia yelled, slapping Keely's arm really hard. The two friends were sitting in Tia's room and Keely was describing the hospital story.

Keely sighed with a smile. "I'm sorry, I'm just dreaming." Suddenly the doorbell rang. _Just like in my daydream_! Keely dashed down the stairs to answer it. It was Phil, as predicted. In this reality, though, she was the one who grabbed his waist and pulled him closer to kiss him.

Phil's eyes sprung open wide as he was presented with Keely's forehead, which was still devoid of makeup, and they parted, Keely smiling up at Phil through her eyelashes and Phil with a quirky-but-still-electric grin on his face. "What was that for? Gosh, you've been full of surprises lately!"

"I know," Keely said, rolling her eyes with a smile. "I'm just on a roll with my fainting and all." _Wow, that sounded really smart! Not… oy, what a loser._

Phil laughed, which made Keely feel a little bit better. She knew he wasn't laughing at her, because he smiled and squeezed her waist before letting go. "So, what now?"

Keely shrugged. "I dunno, but that was fun."

Tia came down the stairs with a spoon in her hand and her mouth full of ice cream just like in Keely's daydream. "Oh, hey Phil," she said after swallowing. "What're you doing here, considering Keely was really mad at you and all?" Keely's eyes opened wide and, staring at Tia, she made a slashing motion across her throat with her hand.

"I don't hate you, Philly-Willy!" Keely cooed, batting her mascara-free eyelashes.

"Of course you don't," he replied with a grin. "We just fixed all that."

A sigh of relief later, Keely was pushing Phil out the door. "It's almost ten o'clock, Phil. You had better get home."

Phil scrunched up his face and sighed. "Keels, we need to talk."

"Breaking up before even officially going out," Tia whispered, and Keely elbowed her so hard that she grunted. "You're welcome."

Keely followed Phil out the door and, closing it behind her, they stood out under the white moonlight. "What's up, Phil?"

"Um, Keely, I feel like I need to be extremely frank with you."

Keely's chin quivered and already she was on the brink of tears. "Frank about what? And why are you calling me Keely instead of Keel or Keels?" _Tia was right_, she began to think.

"I'm not going to be here forever. I know we already went over this, but I feel like we don't have time to be friends anymore," Phil said, holding Keely's hand and squeezing it.

She promptly yanked it back and narrowed her eyes. "We don't have time to _what_?"

_Mini A/N: I was going to leave a cliffhanger here but I'm too nice, so…_

"We don't have the time left to be friends," he sighed, sitting down on the grass. "Here, pull up some St. Augustine."

"I'd rather not," Keely replied sharply, "until you explain yourself."

Phil sighed (_A/N: I wish there were accurate synonyms for this!)_ again. "You're taking this the wrong way, _Keels_."

"Is there a right way to take this?" Keely asked incredulously. "Because from what I've heard, there doesn't seem to be."

"That's because you won't let me finish!" Phil said angrily, standing up to look at Keely. "If you'd let me talk, you'd hear me say… well, you'd hear me say…"

Keely glared at Phil. "Hear you say _what,_ exactly?"

Phil stepped in closer. "You'd hear me talk about the girl I love."

Keely started sobbing and turned around, but Phil grabbed her shoulder and turned her back to face him. "Because she's cute, a little bit shorter than I am, blonde, and beautiful even when she's crying."

"Are you sure she's not brunette?" Keely yelled as she wheeled around and stormed back to the house, but again Phil caught her.

"I'm sure," he said softly, "because I am looking right at her."

Keely looked behind her. "Where?" Phil rolled his eyes with a grin. "Oh, me?" She pointed at herself. "You love me?"

"I most certainly do," Phil said with a slight smile. And with that, he pulled her into another kiss. Keely could certainly get used to this! _Just like my daydream, only better…_

---

**A/N: aww, I think that's the end of this one. To clarify, everything after the double dashes was the reality, and everything (including from the last chapter) after the doorbell but before the double dashes was Keely daydreaming. Cheers, and sequel on its way :)**


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